Why Will Duke MBB Be Better Next Year ?

[CameronCrazy'11]

You are hearing it here first - Zoubs is going to be very good this year and outstanding next year. I saw him destroy McBob in the Blue and White game two years ago. It was not a fluke. Coach K had to put them on the same team in the second half to keep McBob from freaking out. Injuries have held him back with out question. I saw where Coach K recently talked about his injury last year as being the one factor that killed any chance of going further. I am looking for at least 10 points and 7 rebounds a game out of him this year if he gets a break and stays healthy. If I am right (and most of you are wrong) this year's team will go a long, long way. It is July so why be pessimistic?

If you just take Zoubek's averages from last year and adjust them for 28 minutes a game (roughly starter's minutes) then Zoubek averages 10 points 9 rebounds and almost 2 blocks a game. Not too shabby considering that we don't need him to be the strongest player on the court. The problem is that in a 28 minute game he also averages 4.5 fouls. His free throw percentage (.448 last year) is abysmal and his assist/turnover ratio is still pretty low (.65), though much better than his freshmen year (.16). He needs to work on his shot, defending without fouling, and not travelling, but scoring and rebounding are already where we need them to be.

[DukieInBrasil]

i´ve been a big supporter of Z for a while now, although i think that getting 28 mpg from him is a bit of a stretch, probably more in the 20mpg range. I think his scoring will go up quite a bit simply from improved efficiency. His abysmal FT shooting last year will most likely improve as he gets to the line more consistently this year due to more minutes and being more mobile. I foresee his FG% going up too, so 10 ppg doesn´t seem like that much of a stretch now matter how you look at it.
Some people think that LT is the foregone conclusion as the starter in the "big-man" position, however, i mos def did not see the improvements in his game that i saw in Z´s game, even tho Z was seriously injured much of last year. I don´t think Z is the foregone conclusion as a starter either, but if he can stay healthy and make normal progress as a healthy player then i think he´ll win the starting gig. I think LT will be a valuable part of the team, but not as the starter. He provides great energy and intense D, which are what you look for in a role player. You look for some scoring, some rebs and maybe a few blocks from you starting big-man, all of which (i think) Z can do better than LT.

[CameronCrazy'11]

i´ve been a big supporter of Z for a while now, although i think that getting 28 mpg from him is a bit of a stretch, probably more in the 20mpg range. I think his scoring will go up quite a bit simply from improved efficiency. His abysmal FT shooting last year will most likely improve as he gets to the line more consistently this year due to more minutes and being more mobile. I foresee his FG% going up too, so 10 ppg doesn´t seem like that much of a stretch now matter how you look at it.
Some people think that LT is the foregone conclusion as the starter in the "big-man" position, however, i mos def did not see the improvements in his game that i saw in Z´s game, even tho Z was seriously injured much of last year. I don´t think Z is the foregone conclusion as a starter either, but if he can stay healthy and make normal progress as a healthy player then i think he´ll win the starting gig. I think LT will be a valuable part of the team, but not as the starter. He provides great energy and intense D, which are what you look for in a role player. You look for some scoring, some rebs and maybe a few blocks from you starting big-man, all of which (i think) Z can do better than LT.

I didn't mean to suggest that Zoubek would play starter's minutes, just that his scoring was more or less in sync with the starters and his rebounding by far the best on the team on a per minute basis. I think our best case scenario would be that Zoubek develops into a good enough player to take up 25-30 minutes, but in reality playing time will probably be more equitable between all our big men, at least at the beginning of the year.